FEBRUARY 19, 2023, 1:00 pm MELODY QUAH & ANDREAS OESTE

CONTEMPORARY VOICES: WORKS FOR OBOE AND PIANO BY LIVING COMPOSERS

Melody Quah, Piano

Described as a "poet with titanium fingers" by the Vancouver Sun, Dr. Melody Quah has performed extensively on the stages of her native Malaysia as well as across Asia, Europe and North America. Quah’s music career encompasses a wide range of activities — soloist, collaborative pianist, chamber musician, educator, adjudicator, masterclass clinician, and music director.

A prizewinner of the 7th International Paderewski Competition held in Bydgoszcz, Poland, she has appeared in recital at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, and as chamber musician at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre. Quah has soloed with the Ku-Ring-Gai Symphony and Central Coast Symphony Orchestras in Australia, the Pomeranian Philharmonic in Poland, and the Richmond Philharmonic, Academy Philharmonic, Vancouver Philharmonic, West Coast Symphony and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras in Canada, as well as the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Quah is also a proponent of diversifying the piano repertoire. In 2019, for instance, she commissioned Malaysian composers Adeline Wong and Tazul Tajuddin to write two solo piano works, which she premiered in the ’20-’21 season and presented at the 2021 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Virtual Conference. Her presentation, Diversifying Student Repertoire Through Works by Alberto Ginastera was released as part of the 2020 MTNA Virtual Conference. Upcoming projects include a collaboration with Canadian/Iranian composer, Parisa Sabet.

Quah is currently Assistant Professor of Piano at Penn State University. Prior, she served as Visiting Instructor of Applied Piano at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. She has been on the faculties of the Community College of Baltimore County and Levine Music in Washington D.C., and taught secondary piano lessons at Yale University. She is an active adjudicator for the MTNA in the United States, and has presented masterclasses in Medan, Indonesia, and for institutions such as Baylor University, University of Georgia, Elizabethtown College and Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Quah has a long history of community-engaged music making. She regularly gives presentations at senior living communities and schools, performs benefit concerts internationally, and, between 2016-2020 served as Music Director of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Baltimore, MD. She also served as a Junior Board Member of the Shriver Hall Concert Series in Baltimore between 2015-2017, and is currently a board member of the Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association.

Quah earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University as well as graduate degrees from the Yale School of Music and The Juilliard School. She received her Bachelor of Music from the Vancouver Academy of Music and completed her high school education at the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney. Her adventure with the piano began at age six with lessons in Kuala Lumpur. Quah’s principal teachers included Boris Slutsky, Peter Frankl, Matti Raekallio, Lee Kum Sing and Snezana Panovska.

Andreas Oeste, Oboe

Andreas Oeste is an active performer, chamber musician, and educator who currently serves as Lecturer of Oboe at Pennsylvania State University, Principal Oboe of the Harrisburg Symphony, oboist of the Pennsylvania Quintet, and Chair of the Gillet-Fox International Oboe Competition. Andreas appears regularly as an orchestral performer, having held positions with the Lexington Philharmonic, Battle Creek Symphony, Arkansas Symphony, and Symphony of Northwest Arkansas among others. A frequent chamber musician, Andreas has performed across the United States and Europe as part of Market Square Concerts, the Wingra Wind Quintet, Chamber Music Michigan, AEPEX Contemporary Ensemble, and the Thy Festival in Denmark. He is featured often as an orchestral soloist, performing with orchestras including the Penns Woods Festival Orchestra, TACTUS Chamber Orchestra, Harrisburg Symphony, Ann Arbor Camerata, Conway Symphony and more. Andreas holds prizes from several prominent international competitions, most notably from the Hugo-Fox Gillet Competition and the Barbirolli International Oboe Competition. He received his Doctorate of Musical Arts and Masters of Music in Oboe Performance and Chamber Music degrees from the University of Michigan, and Bachelors degrees in Oboe Performance and Music Composition from the University of Central Arkansas.

Hailed by the Gramophone Magazine is “brilliant and intrepid”, violinist Airi Yoshioka has concertized throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Canada. Deeply committed to chamber music, Ms. Yoshioka is the founding member of the Duo della Luna, Damocles Trio, Voyager Ensemble and has performed and recorded with the members of the Emerson, Brentano, and Arditti Quartets. Damocles Trio’s debut disc of complete Piano Trios and Piano Quartet of Joquín Turina has won a four-star rating from the BBC Music Magazine, Le Monde de la Musique and Diapason. Her orchestral credits include performances with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, American Sinfonietta and engagements as concertmaster and soloist with the Manhattan Virtuosi and concertmaster of one of the festival orchestras at the Aspen Music Festival. An enthusiastic performer of new music, she has premiered dozens of solo violin and chamber works as well as be a member of Continuum, ModernWorks!, RUCKUS, Son Sonora, and Ensemble Pi. Of a performance with the New Juilliard Ensemble, the New York Times wrote, “Airi Yoshioka played the violin solo touchingly”, and of a performance with Continuum of Dallapiccola’s music, the New York Times wrote “Powerfully communicative…violinist Airi Yoshioka [played] a lovely ‘Due Studi.’ The performances were as varied as the music.” She has recorded for New World, Naxos, Claves, Mode, Neuma, Albany and Pony Canyon records. While at The Juilliard School, she was a winner of the concerto competition and holds MM and DMA from the school. She has B.A. in English from Yale University. She currently teaches at University of Maryland Baltimore County as Professor of Music. She is a five-time winner of the Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council.

As an active soloist and a sought-after chamber musician, Bulgarian pianist Teodora Adzharova performs throughout the Baltimore-Washington region, frequently collaborating with musicians from both the Peabody Institute and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She has had numerous appearances at the Sundays at Three Concert Series, Summer Chamber Music at Roland Park, Montpelier Arts Center, Washington College, Towson University, University of Maryland, Silo Hill, and as part of the Hedgelawn Series. On many occasions, Teodora’s recordings have been broadcast on APM’s Performance Today.

In 2015 she was honored to inaugurate the Peabody-UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore Country) Partnership in Innovation alongside cellist Mauricio Ray Gallego- a residency that took place at Linehan Hall, UMBC. Teodora is an avid proponent of new music and has often appeared with the Now Hear This ensemble, led by Courtney Orlando, performing works by groundbreaking composers such as Reich, Haas, and Mincek.

As a soloist, she has participated in master classes with many esteemed pianists including Richard Goode, John Perry, José Feghali, Tamara Poddubnaya, Éric Heidsieck and Anton Dikov, and has performed under the baton of David Zinman and Edward Polochick. In 2016 she was chosen as the pianist for the Naxos recording of Pulitzer Prize winner Kevin Puts’ CD, under the direction of Marin Alsop. Teodora is also a Co-founder and Artistic director of the Annunciation Cathedral Concert Series in Baltimore, MD.

As a devoted educator, she is currently a faculty member at the Peabody Institute, UMBC, and the Community College of Baltimore County.

Teodora’s performing history encompasses the stages of multiple countries (US, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Macedonia, Czech Republic) and accolades at national and international competitions (Clara Wells Scholarship Competition (US), Yamaha Scholarship Competition( Bulgaria), Albert Roussel ( Bulgaria), Seiler (Bulgaria), Nikolai Rubinstein (France). She holds performance degrees from the Peabody Institute (MM, 2011; Performance Diploma, 2013; DMA, 2020) where she studied with renown pedagogue Ellen Mack.

Award-winning cellist, Ismar Gomes, has performed internationally as a chamber musician, and soloist. Hailed for his “impressive virtuosity, energy, and a handsome tonal range” (Berkshire Review), he has established himself as a captivating young artist, delivering exciting and innovative performances.

Recent appearances have taken Dr. Gomes to four continents including performances at the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival, Evolution Contemporary Music Series, Le Petit Salon, Luan Huan Shan Glades Music Festival, Early Music at St. Mark’s, and many more. His recent chamber music collaborators include members of the Pittsburgh and Baltimore Symphonies, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well as members of the Johannes, and Brentano Quartets. Also in demand as an orchestral player, Dr. Gomes was the Baltimore Symphony’s Fellow for the 2015 – 2016 season, and is a member of both the Virginia and Richmond Symphonies.

Over a decade ago, Dr. Gomes and pianist Wan-Chi Su founded Duo Sorolla, which has appeared on distinguished series across the US. Besides their focus on the rich, historic repertoire for cello and piano, the Duo has worked with many outstanding composers – including Aaron Malone, William H. Weigel, George Walker, Ying-Chen Kao and Aaron Jay Kernis – to produce and perform their works. Ismar is also a respected baroque cellist, a capacity in which he has performed for over a decade. In 2012 Dr. Gomes co-founded Arioso Furioso, a baroque ensemble based in New York and later in 2018, Ismar joined Mélomanie, an ensemble that pairs early music and contemporary works on period instruments. Three albums of newly recorded works written especially for Mélomanie by Richard Belcastro, Larry Nelson, Robert Maggio, Suzanne Sorkin, and more were released in 2020.

Always engaged in performing and commissioning new works, Dr. Gomes has presented 50+ world premiere performances. In 2014 Dr. Gomes made the premiere recording of a chamber opera by Pulitzer Prize winner, David Lang performing with the Harlem Quartet and guest artists; the recording was a Grammy nomination finalist. Next season, Ismar will give the premiere of a new concerto written for him, by James Lee III.

Teaching is a central component in Dr. Gomes’ musical life. He recently served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Cello at Luther College in Iowa, and is presently on faculty at Gettysburg College, Johns Hopkins, and Washington Adventist Unvirsity. He was formerly faculty and guest artist for StringFest at Merkin Hall, Performing Arts Institute at Wyoming Seminary, CIM Summer Chamber Music, and Young Artist at the Three Bridges International Music Festival – he is currently a Faculty Artist at the Rushmore Music Festival, the Baltimore International Piano Festival, and CelloSpeak. Dr. Gomes has recently been invited to present masterclasses at several universities including Georgetown, Towson, Ball State, and Duke. His students have been invited to perform in masterclasses for major artists, and have been accepted to many of the top Festivals and Conservatories around the world.

Ismar attended the Peabody Conservatory, studying with Alison Wells and Amit Peled. Previous teachers include Marc Johnson and Clive Greensmith of the Vermeer and Tokyo Quartets. He earned his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from Stony Brook University, under the tutelage of Colin Carr. Dr. Gomes has appeared in masterclasses for eminent cellists including Steven Doane, Janos Starker, Steven Isserlis, Gary Hoffman, and Miklos Perenyi, and was mentored in chamber music by the Vermeer, Jerusalem, Juilliard, and Emerson String Quartets.

Born in Pittsburgh, home to jazz greats Art Blakey, Ray Brown, Jeff "Tain" Watts and Ahmad Jamal, Richard D. Johnson has strong territorial jazz roots. He was first introduced to the piano at the age of five by his father, a gospel pianist from Baltimore, MD. Since then, he has cultivated a rich and pedigreed musical background being schooled by some of the most legendary jazz musicians and studying at the most esteemed institutions of music. After receiving a scholarship and graduating from the Berklee School of Music in just two years, Richard entered the Boston Conservatory where he earned a Master’s degree in Jazz Pedagogy in 3 semesters. He then went on to receive an Artist Performance Diploma at the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at New England Conservatory under the direction of the influential Ron Carter.

Richard was invited to become a member of Wynton Marsalis' Septet and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, which he did from 2000-2003. He also played as part of the Russell Malone Quartet, Delfeayo Marsalis Quintet & The Bobby Watson Quartet. After completing his tenure with those groups Richard started the Reach Afar program for young people ages of 7-17, educating them about elements of jazz in hip-hop.

Richard has traveled extensively, sharing the gift of jazz to audiences around the world. As a representative of the United States through the U.S. State Department, Richard was named United States Musical Ambassador. During that time he did six state department tours that took him to Central and South America, Africa, & The Middle East affording him the opportunity to perform in more than 76 countries. Richard has also accompanied such jazz icons as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy heath and Arturo Sandoval.

In 2005 Richard became the musical director for the Atlanta Spirit LLC. This joint project enabled him to create a live instrumental five member band for the N.B.A and perform at all fourty-six home games and outside activities. One of Richards other strengths is administration and music management. In 2013 he began visiting Doha Qatar as a performing artist at the Jazz at Lincoln Center venue. Having been well received there numerous times he was presented with the opportunity in 2015 to be the acting on site full time “Jazz Ambassador” in partnership with the St. Regis Doha Hotel branding company.

Currently Richard is the founding member of “AFAR music” a jazz record label focusing on musicians from Chicago, IL. In his current role he performs with world-class artist promoting jazz to a vast array of audiences. Also Richard is the leading Jazz Piano instructor at Peabody Conservatory of John Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. Richard also serves as the piano instructor for the Ravinia Jazz Program located in Chicago, IL.

Richard is an accomplished composer and arranger with six musical releases as a leader. His latest release as of August 2021 is entitled “First Glance” and features a stellar cast jazz ensemble consisting of Sharel Cassity on Saxophones, Alex Claffy on Bass, & Marc Whitfield on drums. Richard is a Yamaha endorsed piano artist!